Therapeutic role of neural stem cells in neurological diseases.

The failure of endogenous repair is the main feature of neurological diseases that cannot recover the damaged tissue and the resulting dysfunction. Currently, the range of treatment options for neurological diseases is limited, and the approved drugs are used to treat neurological diseases, but the therapeutic effect is still not ideal. In recent years, different studies have revealed that neural stem cells (NSCs) have made exciting achievements in the treatment of neurological diseases. NSCs have the potential of self-renewal and differentiation, which shows great foreground as the replacement therapy of endogenous cells in neurological diseases, which broadens a new way of cell therapy. The biological functions of NSCs in the repair of nerve injury include neuroprotection, promoting axonal regeneration and remyelination, secretion of neurotrophic factors, immune regulation, and improve the inflammatory microenvironment of nerve injury. All these reveal that NSCs play an important role in improving the progression of neurological diseases. Therefore, it is of great significance to better understand the functional role of NSCs in the treatment of neurological diseases. In view of this, we comprehensively discussed the application and value of NSCs in neurological diseases as well as the existing problems and challenges.

Application and challenges of olfactory ensheathing cells in clinical trials of spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to severe motor, sensory and autonomic nervous dysfunction, cause serious psychosomatic injury to patients. There is no effective treatment for SCI at present. In recent years, exciting evidence has been obtained in the application of cell-based therapy in basic research. These studies have revealed the fact that cells transplanted into the host can exert the pharmacological properties of treating and repairing SCI. Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are a kind of special glial cells. The application value of OECs in the study of SCI lies in their unique biological characteristics, that is, they can survive and renew for life, give full play to neuroprotection, immune regulation, promoting axonal regeneration and myelination formation. The function of producing secretory group and improving microenvironment. This provides an irreplaceable treatment strategy for the repair of SCI. At present, some researchers have explored the possibility of treatment of OECs in clinical trials of SCI. Although OECs transplantation shows excellent safety and effectiveness in animal models, there is still lack of sufficient evidence to prove the effectiveness of their clinical application in clinical trials. There has been an obvious stagnation in the transformation of OECs transplantation into routine clinical practice, and clinical trials of cell therapy in this field are still facing major challenges and many problems that need to be solved. Therefore, this paper summarized and analyzed the clinical trials of OECs transplantation in the treatment of SCI, and discussed the problems and challenges of OECs transplantation in clinical trials.

Magnetic resonance imaging radiomics-based prediction of clinically significant prostate cancer in equivocal PI-RADS 3 lesions in the transitional zone.

Purpose: This bi-institutional study aimed to establish a robust model for predicting clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) (pathological grade group ≥ 2) in PI-RADS 3 lesions in the transition zone by comparing the performance of combination models. Materials and methods: This study included 243 consecutive men who underwent 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound-guided transrectal biopsy from January 2020 and April 2022 which is divided into a training cohort of 170 patients and a separate testing cohort of 73 patients. T2WI and DWI images were manually segmented for PI-RADS 3 lesions for the mean ADC and radiomic analysis. Predictive clinical factors were identified using both univariate and multivariate logistic models. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression models were deployed for feature selection and for constructing radiomic signatures. We developed nine models utilizing clinical factors, radiological features, and radiomics, leveraging logistic and XGboost methods. The performances of these models was subsequently compared using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis and the Delong test. Results: Out of the 243 participants with a median age of 70 years, 30 were diagnosed with csPCa, leaving 213 without a csPCa diagnosis. Prostate-specific antigen density (PSAD) stood out as the only significant clinical factor (odds ratio [OR], 1.068; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.029-1.115), discovered through the univariate and multivariate logistic models. Seven radiomic features correlated with csPCa prediction. Notably, the XGboost model outperformed eight other models (AUC of the training cohort: 0.949, and validation cohort: 0.913). However, it did not surpass the PSAD+MADC model (P > 0.05) in the training and testing cohorts (AUC, 0.949 vs. 0.888 and 0.913 vs. 0.854, respectively). Conclusion: The machine learning XGboost model presented the best performance in predicting csPCa in PI-RADS 3 lesions within the transitional zone. However, the addition of radiomic classifiers did not display any significant enhancement over the compound model of clinical and radiological findings. The most exemplary and generalized option for quantitative prostate evaluation was Mean ADC+PSAD.

Study on the postoperative visual function recovery of children with concomitant exotropia based on an augmented reality plasticity model.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the clinical application effect of an augmented reality (AR) plasticity model on the postoperative visual function recovery of children with concomitant exotropia. Methods: Between September 2019 and October 2021, 28 patients with concomitant exotropia who visited Shenzhen Children's Hospital (9 male and 19 female) were enrolled in this study. The average age of the patients was 6.4 ± 1.8 years. Postoperative rehabilitation training was conducted using a personalized AR binocular visual perception plasticity model developed based on the patient's examination results. After 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months of training, the patients returned to the hospital for examinations of perceptual eye position, static zero-order stereopsis, dynamic first-order fine stereopsis, and dynamic second-order coarse stereopsis to compare the changes in eye position control and stereovision function. Results: After 6 months of eye position training, the horizontal perception eye position of the 28 patients was significantly lower than that before training. The difference in eye position at the first and third months compared with that before training was not statistically significant (1st month: z = -2.255, p = 0.024 > 0.017; 3rd month: z = -2.277, p = 0.023 > 0.017; 6th month: z = -3.051, p = 0.002 < 0.017). The difference in vertical perceptual eye position after training compared with that before training was not statistically significant (1st month: z = -0.252, p = 0.801 > 0.017; 3rd month: z = -1.189, p = 0.234 > 0.017; 6th month: z = -2.225, p = 0.026 > 0.017). The difference in 0.8-m static zero-order stereopsis before and after training was not statistically significant (1st month: z = -2.111, p = 0.035 > 0.017; 3rd month: z = -1.097, p = 0.273 > 0.017; 6th month: z = -1.653, p = 0.098 > 0.017). The 1.5-m static zero-order stereopsis was improved after 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months of training compared with that before training (1st month: z = -3.134, p = 0.002 < 0.017; 3rd month: z = -2.835, p = 0.005 < 0.017; 6th month: z = -3.096, p = 0.002 < 0.017). Dynamic first-order fine stereopsis and dynamic second-order coarse stereopsis were measured in the 28 patients before and after training. Patients 1 and 18 had no dynamic first-order fine stereopsis before training, but both regained dynamic stereopsis after 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months of training. Patient 16 had no dynamic first-order fine stereopsis or dynamic second-order coarse stereopsis before training, but first-order and second-order stereopsis had been reconstructed after 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months of training. Conclusion: Concomitant exotropia surgery improved the basic problem of eye position at the ocular muscle level, but the patient's perceptual eye position and visual function defects at the brain visual level remained. This might partly explain the poor postoperative clinical effect. The AR plasticity model can improve patients' horizontal perceptual eye position and multi-dimensional stereoscopic function, and its clinical effect warrants further study.

[Retracted] MicroRNA­19b inhibits proliferation of gastric cancer cells by targeting B­cell CLL/lymphoma 3.

Following the publication of the above paper, it was drawn to the Editors' attention by a concerned reader that one of the tumor images shown in Fig. 4A was strikingly similar to a tumor image appearing in a pair of other articles that had been written by different authors at different research institutes. Owing to the fact that the contentious data in the above article had already been published elsewhere prior to its submission to Oncology Reports, the Editor has decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not receive a reply. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [Oncology Reports 36: 2079­2086, 2016; DOI: 10.3892/or.2016.5029].

African Swine Fever Virus Cysteine Protease pS273R Inhibits Type I Interferon Signaling by Mediating STAT2 Degradation.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a large DNA virus that causes African swine fever (ASF), an acute and hemorrhagic disease in pigs with lethality rates of up to 100%. To date, how ASFV efficiently suppress the innate immune response remains enigmatic. In this study, we identified ASFV cysteine protease pS273R as an antagonist of type I interferon (IFN). Overexpression of pS273R inhibited JAK-STAT signaling triggered by type I IFNs. Mechanistically, pS273R interacted with STAT2 and recruited the E3 ubiquitin ligase DCST1, resulting in K48-linked polyubiquitination at K55 of STAT2 and subsequent proteasome-dependent degradation of STAT2. Furthermore, such a function of pS273R in JAK-STAT signaling is not dependent on its protease activity. These findings suggest that ASFV pS273R is important to evade host innate immunity. IMPORTANCE ASF is an acute disease in domestic pigs caused by infection with ASFV. ASF has become a global threat with devastating economic and ecological consequences. To date, there are no commercially available, safe, and efficacious vaccines to prevent ASFV infection. ASFV has evolved a series of strategies to evade host immune responses, facilitating its replication and transmission. Therefore, understanding the immune evasion mechanism of ASFV is helpful for the development of prevention and control measures for ASF. Here, we identified ASFV cysteine protease pS273R as an antagonist of type I IFNs. ASFV pS273R interacted with STAT2 and mediated degradation of STAT2, a transcription factor downstream of type I IFNs that is responsible for induction of various IFN-stimulated genes. pS273R recruited the E3 ubiquitin ligase DCST1 to enhance K48-linked polyubiquitination of STAT2 at K55 in a manner independent of its protease activity. These findings suggest that pS273R is important for ASFV to escape host innate immunity, which sheds new light on the mechanisms of ASFV immune evasion.

Efficacy of Melatonin for Insomnia in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-analysis.

AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of melatonin in treating insomnia in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: Comprehensive searches were conducted in the PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases from their inception to April 20, 2022. Data were extracted and assessed for quality by two researchers. Statistical analysis was performed using the Stata 15.0 software. RESULTS: Four studies including 238 patients were included. The results showed that compared with the control group, melatonin could shorten the sleep-onset latency (standardized mean difference [SMD] = - 1.34, 95% CI: -2.19 to -0.48), reduce the number of awakenings (SMD = -2.35, 95% CI: -4.62 to -0.08), and prolong the total sleep time (SMD = 1.42, 95% CI: 0.5-2.33) in children with ASD. CONCLUSION: Melatonin has a certain effect on relieving sleep disturbances in children with ASD, which can shorten sleep latency, reduce the number of awakenings, and prolong total sleep time. Larger studies are required to verify this hypothesis.

Prediction of the potential suitable habitat of Echinococcus granulosus, the pathogen of echinococcosis, in the Tibetan Plateau under future climate scenarios.

Echinococcosis is a zoonotic parasitic infectious disease caused by human or domestic animals infected with Echinococcus granulosus. China is the country with the heaviest disease burden caused by Echinococcosis in the world. Therefore, it is feasible to evaluate the prevalence and distribution of echinococcosis using relevant ecological methods, combined with environmental factors and human activities. In this study, MaxEnt was used to predict the distribution range of E. granulosus in China under current and future climate scenarios and explain the impact of environmental variables on its distribution. The results showed that elevation (El), annual mean temperature (bio1), human footprint (Hf), annual precipitation (bio12), mean temperature of warmest quarter (bio10), and mean temperature of wettest quarter (bio8) were identified as the dominant environmental variables. In Tibet, the most suitable habitats (25.9 × 104 km2) of E. granulosus were distributed in Nyingchi and Qamdo in the east, Shigatse and Shannan in the south, and Ali in the west. In Sichuan, the most suitable habitat (18.83 × 104 km2) was located in Aba, Ganzi, and Liangshan. In Qinghai, the most suitable habitat (13.05 × 104 km2) mainly included Yushu in the southwest; Guoluo in the southeast; Haidong, Huangnan, Xining, and Hainan in the east; and Haixi in the west. In Gansu, the most suitable habitat (7.36 × 104 km2) was located in Gannan and Linxia in the southwest and Wuwei and Dingxi in the middle. In Yunnan, the most suitable habitat (1.53 × 104 km2) was distributed in Diqing in the northwest. Under future climate scenarios, the area of the most suitable habitat of E. granulosus showed an obvious expansion trend, with an increase of 44.64-70.76%. Trajectory trend of centroids showed that the most suitable habitat would move to the west in the future, and the increased areas were mainly located in the west of the current most suitable habitat. AUC values of the training data and test data were 0.936 ± 0.001 ~ 0.97 ± 0.006 and 0.912 ± 0.006 ~ 0.956 ± 0.015, respectively. The result can provide a theoretical basis for the prevention, monitoring, and early warning of echinococcosis in China.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of W-Al2O3 Alloy Plates Prepared by a Wet Chemical Method and Rolling Process.

The uneven distribution and large size of the second phase weakens the effect of dispersion strengthening in ODS-W alloys. In this article, the W-Al2O3 composite powders were fabricated using a wet chemical method, resulting in a finer powder and uniformly dispersed Al2O3 particles in the tungsten-based alloy. The particle size of the pure tungsten powder is 1.05 µm and the particle size of W-0.2 wt.%Al2O3 is 727 nm. Subsequently, the W-Al2O3 alloy plates were successfully obtained by induction sintering and rolling processes. Al2O3 effectively refined grain size from powder-making to sintering. The micro-hardness of the tungsten alloy plates reached 512 HV0.2, which is 43.7% higher than that of pure tungsten plates. The nano-hardness reached 14.2 GPa, which is 24.1% higher than that of the pure tungsten plate; the compressive strength reached 2224 MPa, which is 37.2% higher than that of the pure tungsten.

Interface Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al/Steel Bimetallic Composites Fabricated by Liquid-Solid Casting with Rare Earth Eu Additions.

To improve the Al/Steel bimetallic interface, Eu was firstly added to the Al/Steel bimetallic interface made by liquid-solid casting. The effects of Eu addition on the microstructure, mechanical capacities, and rupture behavior of the Al/Steel bimetallic interface was studied in detail. As the addition of 0.1 wt.% Eu, the morphology of eutectic Si changed from coarse plate-like to fine fibrous and granular in Al-Si alloys, and the average thickness of the intermetallic compounds layer decreased to a minimum value of 7.96 µm. In addition, there was a more sudden drop of Fe in steel side and the Si in Al side was observed to be more than the other conditions. The addition of Eu did not change the kinds of intermetallic compounds in the Al/steel reaction layer, which was composed of Al5Fe2, τ1-(Al, Si)5Fe3, Al13Fe4, τ5-Al7Fe2Si, and τ6-Al9Fe2Si2 phases. The addition of the element Eu did not change the preferential orientation of the Al5Fe2, τ1-(Al, Si)5Fe3, Al13Fe4, τ5-Al7Fe2Si, and τ6-Al9Fe2Si2 phases, but refined the grain size of each phase and decreased the polar density of Al5Fe2 phase. Eu was mainly enriched in the front of the ternary compound layer (τ6-Al9Fe2Si2) near the Al side and steel matrix. The Fe and Al element distribution area tended to narrow in the interface after the addition of 0.1 wt.% Eu, which is probably because that Eu inhibits the spread of Al atoms along the c-axis direction of the Al5Fe2 phase and the growth of Al13Fe4, τ5-Al7Fe2Si, and τ6-Al9Fe2Si2 phases. When the Eu content was 0.1 wt.%, the shear strength of the Al/Steel bimetal achieved a maximum of 31.21 MPa, which was 47% higher than the bimetal without Eu.

Citrullinemia type I in Chinese children: Identification of two novel argininosuccinate synthetase gene mutations.

Background: In this study, we evaluated the clinical characteristics, prognosis, and gene mutations of five children with citrullinemia type I (CTLN1) diagnosed in our department and identified two novel ASS1 gene mutations. Methods: We examined the clinical characteristics, prognosis, and gene mutations of the five children through data collection, tandem mass spectrometry, and whole-exon sequencing. MutationTaster, regSNP-intron, and SWISS-MODEL were used for bioinformatic analysis to evaluate the two novel gene mutations. We analyzed differences in blood ammonia and citrulline levels based on clinical phenotypes. Finally, we reviewed the medical literature describing Chinese children with CTLN1. Results: ASS1 C773 + 6T > G and c.848 delA as well as c.952_953 del insTT and c.133G > A have not been previously reported in the Human Gene Mutation Database. Using MutationTaster and regSNP-intron, we predicted that these mutations affected protein function. The 3D structure obtained using SWISS-MODEL supported this prediction. Through comparative analysis showed that the ammonia level of the neonatal type was markedly higher than that of other types, whereas citrulline levels did not differ between groups. Conclusion: We identified two novel mutations that cause disease. The blood ammonia level of neonatal form citrullinemia was markedly higher than that of other types. The genotype-phenotype association in Chinese patients remains unclear and should be further evaluated in genetic studies of larger sample sizes.

Chloroplastic photoprotective strategies differ between bundle sheath and mesophyll cells in maize (Zea mays L.) Under drought.

Bundle sheath cells play a crucial role in photosynthesis in C4 plants, but the structure and function of photosystem II (PSII) in these cells is still controversial. Photoprotective roles of bundle sheath chloroplasts at the occurrence of environmental stresses have not been investigated so far. Non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) of chlorophyll a fluorescence is the photoprotective mechanism that responds to a changing energy balance in chloroplasts. In the present study, we found a much higher NPQ in bundle sheath chloroplasts than in mesophyll chloroplasts under a drought stress. This change was accompanied by a more rapid dephosphorylation of light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) subunits and a greater increase in PSII subunit S (PsbS) protein abundance than in mesophyll cell chloroplasts. Histochemical staining of reactive oxygen species (ROS) suggested that the high NPQ may be one of the main reasons for the lower accumulation of ROS in bundle sheath chloroplasts. This may maintain the stable functioning of bundle sheath cells under drought condition. These results indicate that the superior capacity for dissipation of excitation energy in bundle sheath chloroplasts may be an environmental adaptation unique to C4 plants.

Exploring the Relationship Between Binocular Imbalance and Myopia: Refraction with a Virtual Reality Platform.

To explore the relationship between binocular imbalance (BI) and the abnormal development of binocular refraction. BI data were collected by enrolling the first 1,000 adolescents and children aged 6-18 years in Shenzhen Eye Hospital from April 2020 to January 2021. In this cross-sectional study, the imbalance value (IV) did not show a statistical correlation with the spherical equivalent (SE) (oculus dexter [OD]: r = 0.022, p = 0.586; oculus sinister [OS]: r = -0.021, p = 0.606), and had little correlation with the uncorrected visual acuity (VA) (OD: r = -0.084, p = 0.039; OS: r = -0.034, p = 0.408). The proportion of binocular contrast imbalance (BCI) (the absolute value) maintained the highest level (from 54.42 to 79.17 percent) with the increase of bilateral SE difference in the four subcategories (binocular balance, monocular suppression, binocular rivalry, and BCI). From -100 to +100 of IV, the SE of the left eye tends to increase negatively when compared with the right eye (from -95 < IV ≦ -80, SE difference = -0.83 ± 1.58, to -20 < IV ≦ -10, SE difference = -0.14 ± 0.61; from 10 ≦ IV <20, SE difference = -0.05 ± 0.80, to 80 ≦ IV <95, SE difference = 1.48 ± 2.77). BI widely exists within the general pediatric population. The BI did not show significant correlation with the unilateral eye refractive state and the VA. However, the BI may be accompanied by imbalanced development of the eye refractive system. Furthermore, the SE of the dominant eye (from the prospective of BI) tends to be more negative than that of the opposite eye as the value increases. Clinical Trial Registration number: ChiCTR2100045457.

High-Temperature Oxidation Behavior of Cr-Ni-Mo Hot-Work Die Steels.

The oxidation of 3Cr3Mo2NiW and 3CrNi3Mo steels was studied at 600 °C in air, and the test results suggest that the parabolic rate law fitted the oxidation kinetics of both steels. The microstructure, morphology, structure, and phase composition of the oxide film cross-sectional layers of the two Cr-Ni-Mo hot-work die steels were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The influences of Cr, Ni, and Mo on the high-temperature oxidation resistance of the two Cr-Ni-Mo hot-work die steels are discussed, and the oxidation mechanism is summarized. Heat-treated samples were analyzed using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) to obtain inverse pole figures (IPFs) and average sample grain sizes, and the percentages of twin grain boundaries (TGBs) (θ = 60°) were also measured. After heat treatment, recrystallization was observed in both steels with a large portion of twin grain boundaries. After 10 h of oxidation, the dense chromium-rich oxide layer that formed in the inner oxide layer of 3Cr3Mo2NiW steel effectively prevented the continuation of oxidation. The inner oxide layer in 3CrNi3Mo steel formed an adhesion layer with a network structure composed mainly of Ni- and Cr-rich spinel oxide, without forming a barrier to prevent oxidation.

African swine fever virus I267L acts as an important virulence factor by inhibiting RNA polymerase III-RIG-I-mediated innate immunity.

ASFV is a large DNA virus that is highly pathogenic in domestic pigs. How this virus is sensed by the innate immune system as well as why it is so virulent remains enigmatic. In this study, we show that the ASFV genome contains AT-rich regions that are recognized by the DNA-directed RNA polymerase III (Pol-III), leading to viral RNA sensor RIG-I-mediated innate immune responses. We further show that ASFV protein I267L inhibits RNA Pol-III-RIG-I-mediated innate antiviral responses. I267L interacts with the E3 ubiquitin ligase Riplet, disrupts Riplet-RIG-I interaction and impairs Riplet-mediated K63-polyubiquitination and activation of RIG-I. I267L-deficient ASFV induces higher levels of interferon-ß, and displays compromised replication both in primary macrophages and pigs compared with wild-type ASFV. Furthermore, I267L-deficiency attenuates the virulence and pathogenesis of ASFV in pigs. These findings suggest that ASFV I267L is an important virulence factor by impairing innate immune responses mediated by the RNA Pol-III-RIG-I axis.

Cesarean section in reducing mother-to-child HBV transmission: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A meta-analysis (MA) of natural vs. cesarean births in HBV infected mothers was performed to assess which delivery methods could minimize the mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of Hepatitis B virus (HBV). METHODS: Electrical databases PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched for the English papers about the HBV MTCT up to 19 August 2019. STATA 11.0 software was used for all analysis. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to present the effect size for MTCT at birth and MTCT more than 6 months. Heterogeneity was evaluated using the chi-squared Q and I2 test to determine the use of random effects model or fixed effects model. RESULTS: A total of 19 articles involving 11,144 HBV-positive pregnant women (5251 underwent natural delivery and 5893 received a cesarean section) were included in the study. The pooled OR for MTCT at birth was 0.42, 95% CI: 0.23-0.76 based on random effect model (I2 = 69.9%, p = .019). Meanwhile, in fixed effect model (I2 = 0.0%, p = .470), the pooled OR for MTCT more than 6 months was 0.62, 95% CI: 0.48-0.81. The results indicated that HBV infection in cesarean births significantly lower than that of vaginal delivery. Subgroup analysis of MTCT more than 6 months was clearly, and the results indicated that cesarean section significantly reduced the risk of MTCT (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.48-0.81, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Cesarean section can reduce the risk of HBV MTCT and should be employed as a preventive measure. Due to the limitations of this study, further multi-center, large-sample randomized controlled trials must be performed to confirm these findings.

Effect of a community-based child health counselling intervention on health-seeking behaviours, complementary feeding and nutritional condition among children aged 6-23 months in rural China: A pre- and post-comparison study.

In China, the prevalence of undernutrition among children under 5 years of age has declined significantly during recent decades. However, noticeable gaps exist between rural and urban areas. Since 2012, a government-funded nutrition programme, Ying Yang Bao (YYB; soybean powder-based iron-rich supplement) programme, has been implemented in poor rural areas to decrease the risk of developing anaemia among children aged 6-23 months, but there are still inadequate health care awareness, feeding knowledge and skills among caregivers. From June 2018 to December 2020, a child health counselling intervention was delivered through a home visit based on the YYB programme in Liangshan. Child health messages were given by trained village child health assistants while distributing YYB. Surveys were conducted before and after the intervention to analyse changes in child health check-up frequency, complementary feeding practice and prevalence of undernutrition. After the intervention, the proportion of children who had regular health check-ups, who were vaccinated and who met the minimum YYB consumption significantly increased from 26.0%, 81.6%, and 67.8% to 59.7%, 95.0%, and 79.2%. Increased rates of IYCF indicators (introduction of solid, semisolid, or soft foods, minimum dietary diversity and consumption of iron-rich or iron-fortified foods) were observed after the intervention. The prevalence of stunting, underweight, wasting, and anaemia significantly decreased from 26.3% to 10.8%, 13.4% to 8.7%, 14.0% to 10.5%, and 52.1% to 43.9%. This intervention can be well integrated into the YYB programme with less additional resources. Children in resource-limited areas will benefit more from a comprehensive nutritional package, including food supplements and child health education.

Atomevo: a web server combining protein modelling, docking, molecular dynamic simulation and MMPBSA analysis of Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB) fusion protein.

Although current computational biology software is available and has prompted the development of enzyme-substrates simulation, they are difficult to install and inconvenient to use. This makes the time-consuming and error-prone process. By far there is still a lack of a complete tool which can provide a one-stop service for the enzyme-substrates simulation process. Hence, in this study, several computational biology software was extended development and integrated as a website toolbox named Atomevo. The Atomevo is a free web server providing a user-friendly interface for enzyme-substrates simulation: (1) protein homologous modeling; (2) parallel docking module of Autodock Vina 1.2; (3) automatic modeling builder for Gromacs molecular dynamics simulation package; and (4) Molecular Mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MMPBSA) analysis module for receptor-ligand binding affinity analysis. We officially launched the web server and provided instructions through a case for the design and simulation of Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB) fusion protein called Maltose Binding Protein-Thioredoxin A-Candida antarctica lipase B (MBP-TrxA-CalB).